Chapter X: Family Entertainment
Subjects: (Hyrule Warriors) Impa, (Twilight Princess Zelda), Samus Aran
The sun had barely risen, but there was already some life awakening to the dawn.
Hyrule Castletown was still mostly asleep, but those who needed to rise with the sun had already begun their day, preparing for hustle and bustle when everybody else finally awaken. The animals that slept through the night began to wander about while the nocturnal creatures took their turn to finally get some sleep.
The Hyrulean guards remained on duty throughout all hours of the night, unable to help but yawn once in a while until other soldiers came to relieve them. The case was the same with the guards of Hyrule Castle, who remained as vigilant as possible all night, awaiting for another to take their place so that they may rest in return.
Up in one of the castle's many rooms, a figure appeared at one of the windows, staring out at the slowly awakening world.
A young girl with brownish-blonde hair that went down the back of her shoulder, smiled widely as she stared out the window. She was feeling giddy with excitement and turned away from the window to quickly get dressed out of her sleeping garments and into something for running around all day. She then rushed out of her bedroom door, dashing down the hallways and nearly slipping in her haste.
She quickly approached a door and reached up to grab the doorknob, slipping into the room and the shutting the door behind her.
"Papa! Mama!" She called out in a teasing tone, running over to the bed, and pouted in disappointed when the two figures lying there did not respond. She moved to the other side of the bed, then circled back to the previous side she had been at. She called them again. No response, again. Deciding to change her tactics a bit, she pressed down on the mattress.
"Papa! Mama! … Ma! Mama!" She called.
Queen Zelda of Hyrule hummed in her sleep as she nestled into her beloved's chest, a tired smile creeping onto her lips. "Your daughter's awake…"
"Before sunrise, she's your daughter…" was the response she received from the woman beside her.
Unable to wait any longer, the child moved back towards the door before rushing towards the bed at full speed and leaping onto it, landing on top of her parents. "You said we could go first thing in the morning! It's morning now!" The child exclaimed, practically vibrating with excitement.
The two occupants of the large bed grunted loudly, and the tall, muscular woman sat up and gave her daughter a look. "Fine…! I'm up, I'm up."
With a wide grin, the young girl, hopped off the bed and her parents, and rushed to wait by the door.
Samus Aran yawned and ran a hand through her long, blonde hair, and shook her head. Beside the warrior woman, Queen Zelda of Hyrule opened her eyes and watched her wife as she got the sleep out of her system. Eventually, the queen sat up as well and turned her gaze to the child.
"Astrid… You're going to have to let your…'father' wake up fully," Zelda said with a chuckle.
Samus rubbed the back of her neck and rolled her shoulders, hearing a few pops and cracks as she stretched.
Astrid was bouncing on her toes, waiting for her mothers to finally get out of bed. She wanted to head out on their promised excursion now, but she knew she had to be more patient.
Zelda slid out of bed and wrapped her arms around her wife's waist from behind. "Good morning, Samus."
"Morning…" The taller woman placed her hand over her beloved's and smiled slightly. She turned in the queen's arms and kissed the top of her head.
"Better get ready before our little princess grows even more impatient," Zelda teased and leaned up to kiss her wife's cheek before stepping back and moving over to her vanity to brush her long, flowing brown hair.
Samus smiled, an amorous expression on her face as she watched her wife brushing her hair back to its usual perfect state. A tug on her hand then brought the warrior woman back down to reality. She looked down to her side to see Astrid tugging on her hand and pouting.
With a sigh, Samus knelt down and ruffled her daughter's head. "Go on ahead and wait for me. I'll catch up."
Astrid nodded took off once again.
Zelda chuckled as she watched the exchange through her mirror. Her eyes then followed her wife as Samus went to grab some clothes for the day; she still kept and used her own strange clothing, but also had some garbs that helped her blend in with the local life on Hyrule.
Once she was fully dressed in a white shirt and breeches and boots, with a cloak to go over her body, and had tied her hair back up into its usual high ponytail, Samus felt that she was being watched and turned to look at the queen. Zelda smirked and turned around, reaching her hand out to her beloved, who did not hesitate to move towards her and take a hold of her hand. The hunter pressed a kiss to the Hylian monarch's knuckles.
No words were exchanged, and they did not need to. Their eyes spoke for them and they both understood each other, as they always had since the beginning.
Finally, Samus and Zelda made their way to the front entrance of the castle, easily spotting Impa kneeling before the little princess. No doubt reminding her to be careful of her surroundings, and to not dash down the halls, especially when Impa herself was not there to watch her.
The Sheikah warrior noticed the pair then stood up. She bowed in greeting and let the princess run to her two mothers.
"Can we go yet?" Astrid asked, looking up at Samus.
Samus chuckled, easily lifted the princess up with an arm and nodded. She turned to Zelda and leaned down to press their foreheads together.
"I would love to, but I have duties to attend to," Zelda said with a small, somewhat rueful smile, knowing that Samus was asking if she truly could not join them on their little early morning adventures.
Astrid looked at her Hylian mother with a bit of disappointment, but she understood that being queen meant that Zelda would not always be able to join them for any sort of fun activities. But when she did, it always made the princess feel happy that both her parents were there, together. And the fun increased tenfold.
Impa pat the princess's head and smiled reassuringly. "Not to worry, Princess Astrid. Your mother is in good hands." She then looked to Samus, "Are you certain you do not need me to accompany you both?"
"We'll manage, don't worry. Nothing dangerous for today," Samus said casually.
Impa rolled her eyes but could not stop from herself chuckling as she shook her head. "As you say. I will watch over the castle and the queen."
Zelda reached over to touch her daughter's cheek. "Do not worry. When you return, I promise to find some time away from my duties. We can continue your harp lessons as well."
Astrid nodded. "Okay."
Samus adjusted her daughter in her arm until Astrid was practically sitting on her shoulder. She leaned down to kiss his wife's forehead before heading out of the castle for a long day of exploring the lands beyond Castletown with the little princess on her shoulder.
Once they were out of sight, Impa glanced at the queen and Zelda nodded at her before heading back to her study. Even after all this time, Impa was still amazed with how life turned out.
Samus Aran had been a complete enigma when she first arrived at Hyrule, and Zelda had come to get along with the bounty hunter who apparently came down from the stars. Samus was a woman of few words, maybe even more so than Link at times. But the princess seemed to understand the silent hunter, and had no sense of fear or tension around her. In fact, Zelda seemed to be calmer and relaxed around the strange bounty hunter. The two of them made quite a pair. Once they learned to work together effectively, it was clear they were nearly unstoppable.
But as time went on, Impa could see that there was clearly something growing between them. As their quest those years ago—one that brought Samus to Hyrule in the first place—went on, they had to continue working together and a bond was forming. A bond that only grew stronger as time went on.
It soon became clear to Impa and even Link, that Samus was growing rather fond of Zelda, and in return, the princess was growing some affection for the hunter as well. In the end, both bounty hunter and princess professed their love to each other at some point.
And now, years later, Princess Zelda was now Queen Zelda, with Samus Aran as her wife, though the warrior woman remained as a bounty hunter who would travel the stars if her services were needed.
In addition to settling together, they had the new princess of Hyrule; Princess Astrid. Already she seemed to be showing a bit of both her mothers in her. Sometimes she acted like a mix of both Zelda and Samus, but had her own level mischievousness to add to it all.
Impa patrolled down the halls of the castle before stopping before the door to Queen Zelda's study. She lifted her hand to knock on the door, but paused. A smile formed on the Sheikah woman's lips and she chuckled, shaking her head before she turned away and continued down the hall.
Astrid was proving to be quite the explorer with how interested she was in the world around her. She was like her mother, Zelda, in that way. But being bold and brave enough to traverse a new place was definitely something she may have gotten from Samus or perhaps a combination of both the queen and the bounty hunter.
Samus kept an eye on her daughter as she wandered around at a fair, but safe, distance.
The bounty hunter had long accepted that she would be destined to fight for the rest of her life; living in isolation as it was the safest bet for both herself, and for the people around her. She had many enemies, being the legendary hunter who had destroyed entire planets and an entire species. Her life was too dangerous, too chaotic for any sort of enjoyment. Whatever break she had, she could barely even relax. The best she could do was have a drink at a spaceport bar on occasion, or simply spend her time alone in her ship, wandering the depths of space.
Never did she think she would end up where she was today. Of all places, she never imagined she would end up in a more medieval setting, meeting and bonding with the kingdom's monarch, and having a little spawn of her own with said monarch. A chuckle escaped the bounty hunter as she thought of all the events that led up to her current life.
"Fancy meeting you here on a day like this, Samus Aran," A familiar voice said and Samus whirled around but saw nobody. Tensing, she took a quick look of her surroundings before noticing something in her peripheral vision.
The bounty hunter looked up at one of the branches of a nearby tree and saw a lean, blonde-haired woman with red eyes watching her.
A white face covering kept most of her facial features a mystery and her bangs covered her left eye and around her neck was a white scarf that flowed down her back, along with her long blonde hair tied into a braid. She wore a body suit with a very light gray torso, a red eye symbol, the insignia of the Sheikah, was printed there. The legs and arms of her suit was blue with darker blue lines. Her shins, back of her hands, ribs, and shoulders were protected by a bronze-and-gold plates of armor, and each of them had the same Sheikah insignia embossed on them. Finally, her forearms were covered in white wrappings.
The woman tilted her head slightly and easily jumped down from the tree branch, landing gracefully on her feet like a cat. She kept her eyes on Samus and approached but paused when a voice called out.
"Sheik!" Astrid came rushing towards the Sheikah warrior excitedly, a huge smile on her face.
Behind her face covering, Sheik smiled and bent down to allow the child jump into her arms before lifting her off the ground. "Hello, Princess. Off on another adventure I see." Sheik greeted.
"Didn't think you'd be joining us," Samus said, crossing her arms.
Sheik looked to the space warrior and Samus could tell there was a smirk behind that obstructing cloth. "My duties can wait for a little while. I merely wanted to see if the princess is doing well."
"As you can see, she's fine." Samus said with a shrug.
"I can see that," Sheik said as she allowed Astrid to climb up, and place both her legs over the Sheikah woman's shoulders.
Samus could not resist the smirk forming on her lips. "You do know I have someone waiting for us back at the castle, right?"
"Hm. The great hunter of the stars is fraternizing with another woman. Or perhaps it is a man she is seeing behind her wife's back." The Sheikah warrior teased.
"She's actually very much aware of it," Samus teased back, "I'm also sure she's seeing someone else behind my back in return…"
Astrid giggled from her seat atop Sheik's shoulders. It was rather entertaining watching the back and forth that went on between both warriors.
Sheik nodding knowingly. "Ah, so I've heard. The mysterious knight in unusual armor; the queen's lover."
The little princess tugged on the covering around Sheik's head slightly to get her attention. "Sheik, can we visit Lake Hylia today?"
The ninja-like woman chuckled. "Well, certainly. But only if your 'father' is all right with it."
Samus gave the Sheikah a mock glare as she picked her daughter off of the red-eyed woman's shoulders and perched Astrid on her own arm. "Since when did you have a say in my family affairs?"
"Since you decided to see me behind the queen's back, and allow Princess Astrid to interact with me." Sheik retorted.
Samus rolled her eyes. "We'll go visit Lake Hylia. But after that, we'll have to head back."
Astrid grinned happily and hopped off her mother's arms. She ran on ahead, looking behind her shoulder to make sure the two women were still following her.
At Lake Hylia, Astrid did not hesitate at taking a close look at the water. Samus stayed nearby to make sure she did not fall in or run into any sort of unsavory creature. Sheik also remained close, keeping a vigilant watch over the princess.
"Did Uncle Link really get to dive down in the lake?" Astrid asked, looking away from the water and back at Sheik.
"He did," The ninja woman nodded. "But to remain underwater indefinitely, he needed a Zora Tunic."
"He couldn't even properly stay under water unless he had those ridiculous metal boots." Samus commented from where she stood.
Sheik chuckled. "Not everybody has armor that can be used in practically any sort of environment like yours, Samus."
The princess peered into the lake again. "Can we dive in?"
"Not a chance." Samus said, quickly moving over to pick up her daughter in case she got any crazy ideas and decided to jump in without warning.
Astrid pouted. "Aww…!"
Sheik laughed. "I'm afraid I will have to agree with Samus this time, Princess. I am sure the queen would not be happy if you jumped into the lake and returned home entirely soaked."
"She wouldn't mind," The princess protested.
"She would," Sheik gave the child a stern look.
Astrid pouted in defeat. Maybe next time, she might get lucky, or perhaps she could ask her Uncle Link to take her diving in Lake Hylia when she saw him again.
The trip back to Hyrule Castletown was interesting to say the least. Astrid had gotten up to her own mischief, even with a bounty hunter and Sheikah warrior in her company.
She had somehow managed to slip away, much to the worry of both Samus and Sheik, only to be found followed by a flock of cuccos. She giggled as she walked backwards while the birds waddled after her.
Samus and Sheik tensed slightly, knowing the secret dark side of the seemingly docile farm birds.
Thankfully, the little princess managed to prevent any incidents involving cucco swarms, and once Astrid decided to urge the birds to return to their usual lives, the cuccos obliged and the flock ran back from whence they came.
"She has your way with animals," Sheik commented tenderly, watching the princess with such affection.
Samus glanced at the red-eyed woman then looked over as her young daughter ran back to their side. The bounty hunter bent down and allowed Astrid to leap into her arms. The little princess settled on top of her mother's right forearm.
Sheik parted ways with Samus and Astrid once they were at the entrance to Hyrule Castletown, disappearing in a puff of smoke, as per the usual exit of any Sheikah warrior. Once it was just the two of them left, Astid was quick to challenge her mother to a race back to the castle. Samus had simply shrugged and accepted the challenge.
Astrid did not hesitate and ran on ahead. Samus followed close behind. She trusted her daughter, while mischievous and familiar with plenty of routes and shortcuts through Castletown, knew the way back home without getting lost. And the princess knew better than to worry Zelda.
Finally they reached the front gates of the castle and Samus smirked as she finally allowed herself to speed up and touch the side of the entryway.
"I win again, Princess." She announced.
Astrid huffed. "I never seem to win at a race."
Samus got on one knee to look at her daughter in the eye. "But you're getting better. You've gotten faster since the last time we had a race. Keep working on it and you might just beat me next time."
The young princess just nodded, knowing that her bounty hunter mother was not one to sugarcoat things, and if your abilities were subpar, she would be honest about it. And so if Samus was complimenting her, Astrid knew it was the truth and not merely because she was her daughter. She may be still young but it was something Astrid greatly appreciated about both of her parents; their honesty and encouragement.
Impa was there to greet them both and Samus nodded in acknowledgement before heading off to see Zelda in her study while Astrid was guided off by one of the servants to have a bath, much to the princess's dismay.
The entire family was able to attend lunch later that day, with the queen sitting at the head of the table and Samus seated at her right side. Astrid sat on the left side, and was eager to share the day's adventure once her mother asked.
Zelda looked over at her slightly fidgety daughter. "How was your morning excursion, Astrid? Did anything interesting happen?"
The princess grinned. "We got to see more of Hyrule Fields today! And Sheik appeared as well!"
"Did she now…?" Zelda glanced over at Samus who merely shrugged.
Astrid nodded excitedly. "Yes. Sheik is amazing!"
"Hmm…" Zelda dabbed her lips with a napkin, hiding a smirk behind it.
Samus cleared her throat and had a bite of her food, while Impa raised an eyebrow at the family from where she stood, but she made no comment.
"And then we even visited Lake Hylia! But I didn't get to swim…" Astrid pouted but continued with her little story of the morning.
The bounty hunter rolled her eyes but she had a fond smile on her face. Astrid was quite a handful at times, but what kid wasn't? Still, she could feel a bit of herself and Zelda really shine through their daughter at times.
Being part-Hylian, Astrid had the usual pointed ears that the Hylians had, as well as being born with some innate magical ability, but she also had parts of her that were human with a bit of Chozo; as Samus Aran was her mother as well and had the DNA of the Chozo within her.
After their meal, Zelda had taken the princess with her to the garden to practice with the harp. Astrid had expressed interest in learning the lullaby that Zelda had always known since infancy, and now it seemed it would be passed down to her own daughter.
Samus remained close by, watching over her family with a small, content smile on her face as she listened to the soothing melody. She had always enjoyed hearing Zelda play; especially that lullaby. It somehow calmed her and she would think of it whenever she felt the anxiety enter her mind. Perhaps it was because it was Zelda playing it or perhaps the song had a mystical hold on people in general.
Astrid watched as her mother plucked at the strings before she was handed the instrument to give it a try herself. "I don't think I'll ever be able to play the harp as beautifully as you, Mama."
"Do not worry about making mistakes, dear one. Just keep practicing it and soon you will be able to play the song well," Zelda said, stroking her daughter's hair tenderly when she frowned at the mistakes she made.
"Was it difficult for you too?" Astrid asked.
Zelda smiled. "Of course. I always made mistakes when I was young, even now. There is no shame in not being able to achieve something perfectly within a day."
Astrid nodded in understanding and tried again. She plucked the strings, listening carefully and pausing when she reached a certain part of the lullaby. She stared at the strings, trying to recall which one played the right tune.
"Take your time. You do not need to be perfect." The queen encouraged. Astrid bit her lip and plucked another string. She looked at Zelda who nodded in approval.
Samus went over to sit beside her wife and Zelda did not hesitate to lean against her. The bounty hunter placed an arm around her shoulders in response. It always felt nice when they managed to find time together like this. Who knows when the next mission would come calling to Samus, and for Zelda, as queen she was busy most of the time.
Astrid smiled upon seeing how happy and calm her mothers were when they were together. She often wondered about their story, how they even met and came to be.
The princess had become aware and used to the fact that both Samus and Zelda were literally from different worlds, with Samus coming from outer space and traveled often, while Zelda had always been princess of Hyrule. They were clearly different from each other in more ways than one; Samus came from a place full of strange technology that was beyond the understanding of those who do not come from the same world. Hyrule was the opposite of all that, but there was mystique and magic.
The princess always wanted to ask how everything in their life led up to this moment, but was unsure how to approach the subject. As far as she knew; her mothers had been through much together and it formed a bond between them.
"Astrid?" She was snapped out of her thoughts and looked over to Samus and Zelda.
"Lost in thought?" Zelda asked with a small smile.
"Yes Mama…" The young princess nodded sheepishly.
Samus reached over and ruffled her daughter's hair affectionately before nodding over back to the entrance of the castle.
Astrid nodded in understanding. "Okay, Ma. Mama, can we practice some more tomorrow? Please?" She asked Zelda.
The queen nodded. "Of course. Perhaps we can also begin your archery training as well."
At the suggestion, Astrid's eyes lit up in excitement and she nodded eagerly. "Okay! We'll do it tomorrow!" Astrid jumped up and handed the harp back to the queen before sprinting back inside the castle.
"Energetic…" Samus mumbled.
Zelda let out a laugh and placed a gloved hand over her wife's. "True. I suppose it came from us both."
Samus smirked teasingly and raised an eyebrow at the queen, earning her a playful smack on the arm.
"You act as if I had not done as much as you have the last time we had an…exciting adventure." Zelda chuckled.
A warm smile made its way to the hunter's lips as she leaned in and pressed a kiss to her wife's lips. Zelda instantly relaxed and melted against her beloved.
"I am curious, Your Majesty…" Impa said.
"What is it?" The queen asked, looking up from her documents and at her longtime caretaker.
"Why do you continue with acting oblivious to… Well, it is not as if the princess is not aware…" Impa was unsure how to put her question into proper words.
Zelda chuckled. "I suppose it is strange. But it is rather entertaining, and Astrid does not seem to mind the playful charades and it keeps her entertained."
The Sheikah woman nodded. "And you and Samus plan on continuing this game of sorts? I do admit it is rather amusing to see the reaction of those who are ignorant, however I was merely wondering; why continue it?"
"I suppose it has become a sort of…family entertainment," The queen smiled.
Impa shook her head but she was smiling. It was odd for Zelda and Samus to act as if there were four different people when it was just the two of them, and the princess referring to Samus as a 'father' just to see the look of shock on people's faces when they discover the true gender of Samus Aran. And being an admirer of Shiek, and the 'mysterious knight' when she knew exactly who they were…
Who would have thought that the royal family of Hyrule would be, perhaps, the greatest pranksters in history?
Because I sometimes like to believe that Samus and Zelda enjoy casually trolling the world by taking the whole "secret identity" thing to a whole new level, without the intention of pranking people, and that their little magic-science spawn is a little troll who loves to give people heart attacks by calling Samus her papa and acting like Sheik is someone else, when they who were unaware learn: "Samus is a girl?!" and "Sheik is Zelda?!"
And last time, I said that Hyrule Warriors' design of Sheik was my favorite and I just fell in love with it. Well now that we saw the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate design of Sheik, I may want to rethink that statement... So yes, Smash Bros. Ultimate's Sheik design is what Sheik looks like here.
Hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter. This is a little longer than usual but it was fun to write!
Until then...